Catapult-launched, tactical bat drone wages electronic war

Small, tactical drones may have a new role in military strikes
after Northrop Grumman's catapult-launched Bat demonstrated an
electronic attack capability for the first time in new tests.

With its 12-foot wingspan, the low-flying Bat, which maxes out
at 70 miles per hour, was able to jam radar during tests. That
means the Pentagon will soon have the option of deploying a
flexible, largely undetectable drone with radar-jamming capability
to protect manned aircraft against radar and surface-to-air missile
guidance systems.

Bat continues to demonstrate capabilities that can normally only
be achieved by larger, more expensive unmanned aircraft," said
George Vardoulakis, Northrop Grumman's vice president of Medium
Range Tactical Systems, in a statement. "Our customers now have a
more mobile and affordable option for electronic warfare
missions."

The tests, involving other unmanned and fixed-wing aircraft,
took place last month at the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics
Squadron One Weapons and Tactics Instructor event at Naval Air
Weapons Station China Lake, California, according to Northrop
Grumman.

While the Bat has been in operation for some time, it has
remained a surveillance vehicle until now. Northrop integrated its
Pandora electronic attack payload -- a lightweight, low-cost
derivative of the company's family of APR-39 systems -- on the Bat
in less than two months.

According to Northrop, the Bat was a good candidate because of
its price point, larger payload volume given its size and its
ability to accept different-size fuel tanks and sensor
payloads.

Bat is a runway-independent and fully autonomous vehicle that
launches from a hydraulic rail launcher at sea or land and recovers
into a portable net system, as seen in this video of earlier
tests: